· when his son (and the kidnapped boy’s father), also called john paul getty (just to make things even more confusing), approached the old man for assistance, getty flat out refused him. The world expected getty , one of the richest men alive, to pay the ransom immediately. When john called his grandfather to thank him for paying the ransom , getty refused to come to the phone. Paul getty built a vast fortune, but his extreme frugality, failed marriages, and chilling response to his grandson’ s kidnapping defined his public image. Paul getty made billions in the oil business — but was reluctant to pay the ransom for his kidnapped grandson , john paul getty iii, in 1973. From oil fields in oklahoma to an art museum in los angeles, j. (getty images | hulton archive/getty. Paul getty , a wealthy american oil tycoon, refused to pay the ransom when his grandson , john paul getty iii, was kidnapped on. Instead, he refused —even as the boy’s captors grew desperate. · the one-time richest person in the world, j. · yet nothing exposed getty ’s cheapness more than what happened in 1973 when his 16-year-old grandson, john paul getty iii, was kidnapped. · in 1973, john paul getty iii — the 16-year-old grandson of oilman j. Paul getty , then said to be the world’ s richest man , worth some $1. 2 billion (around $9. 1 billion today) — was. The movie all the money in the world was based on these tragic events.
